Wild Flower On Trial
by iapetus999
Summary: In the 6th installment of the Wild Flower Saga, Carly Richards (Wild Flower) is sentenced to spend 20 years in jail for the death of Lance Conrad. But she still has a mission: recruit new agents for Hydra from inside prison. Of course, nothing goes to plan, and being in jail becomes the least of her problems.
1. Intro

**Introduction**

Welcome to the 6th installment of the Wild Flower Saga!

For those who need a refresher, Wild Flower is an OC. Born Carly Richards, Wild Flower is the child of Hydra, injected at an early age with the power of The Hydra, with the ability to regenerate anything plant or animal. But when she does, she absorbs some of the power, so when she devastates a forest, she herself becomes a leaf-bearing plant. Hydra has her locked down tight, controlling her for their own purposes.

She longs to be free, to go back to being a teen again, to feel the touch of a boy, but as a hideous forested freak stuck in jail, her options are limited.

Marvel Characters in the story:

She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"And how do you plead to the charge of manslaughter of Lance Conrad?" asked Jennifer Walters, prosecuting attorney for the State of Virginia.

Carly Richards, aka the notorious Wild Flower, swallowed. The courtroom held her family, but also a bench full of awful glaring victims. Carly's father sat in the back, his face a frowning mask. Her mother sat there, too, looking more like she was at a funeral than a trial, a veil across her face. Carly's vines curled around her naked feet. She couldn't even dress properly for a trial. Her tendrils would just eat whatever she put on, so she was technically undressed, although her vines and leaves covered everything. Even now, she had to consciously prevent her butt from setting roots into the wooden bench she sat upon. She looked to her lawyer, the man shaking his head, _no, don't_.

Two months ago, she had stridden into Jennifer Walters' law offices. Walters' beefy security men escorted her in with drawn guns, but it was completely unnecessary. Jennifer agreed to see Carly immediately.

"Well," the woman who could become a monster at any moment had said. "You don't look angry. So, I can assume you're desperate." That referred to the last time they met, down in the jungle, where Carly promised they'd only ever meet again if Carly was going to kill Jennifer. Or desperately needed help.

Carly had nodded. "I'm ready." Her voice cracked more than she thought it could. "I'm ready to serve my time."

"You know you don't have to do that."

"I don't want favors. I don't want to owe S.H.I.E.L.D. or any country. I don't want to owe anyone anything." That much was true. Despite Jennifer's gentle prodding, Carly refused to hear any leniency offers. Jail was the only path forward.

Jennifer had nodded. "Then why come to me if you don't want anything?"

"Because, I'll need protection. They will come for me. I'll accept whatever sentence is given, but until then, I don't want to be a target. If I'm sentenced, and I will be, you make sure I make it to jail alive."

The woman who could become She-Hulk, who _was_ She-Hulk, sighed. "I've seen your file. The State has a solid case, maybe enough for capital punishment."

Carly snorted. "Well, good luck trying to kill me. That's why I need you. I want this to be fast. No delays, no extended discovery. I'll plea whatever I can plea. Make it easy for everyone."

"I can't represent you. You know that."

Carly looked at the woman. "It really doesn't matter. It's not going to be a long trial. I'm ready to face my accusers."

Jennifer walked around her desk to Carly. "You _really_ need to have your own lawyer. I strongly suggest you return with one before we talk further."

" _This_ is my deal." Carly cleared a throat that didn't want to talk. "Death penalty's off the table. I'll accept manslaughter. I never meant for anyone to die. And waive the property damages. My powers were out of control. And don't forget who stopped that fake Wild Flower. The X-Men were useless."

Jennifer nodded. "You're asking a lot."

"And how many men would die if you tried to take me against my will? The state better give me consideration for surrendering."

The monster lawyer shook her head. "Well. That is certainly compelling. I think a bit of actionable intel would go a long way toward my recommendation."

Carly sniffed and scratched her nose. This whole thing stunk, as usual. "Fine. Get me the deal, and I'll squeal. Just nothing on my family."

Jennifer nodded, breathed. Carly stared out the window at the city. Her last moments of freedom. The police were probably on their way already.

"Can I ask you one thing? Why are you doing this?"

Carly shook her head. "It's the only way."

Now, sitting on the defendant's bench, hordes of press and visitors glaring at her, it didn't seem that simple. She would have a criminal record. It would follow her for the rest of her life. It had to be done. There was no going forward without it.

"Guilty," she said.

The crowd gasped, but a deal was a deal. Carly looked to Jennifer, who nodded back to her.

"Why am I even here?" asked her lawyer.

Sentencing came a week later. Her mother took the stand, explained how Carly had always been an exemplary student, that what happened was beyond her control. Carly was asked to explain her actions, whether she had remorse.

"Of course," she said, her leaves limp. "I'm haunted by what happened to Lance. I loved him. But I was selfish. I used him. I didn't think through the consequences of my actions. I thought he was strong enough to take it. I was wrong. And I'm ashamed."

Jennifer was good on her word. Twenty years, minus time served. Carly dragged her vines as she was led out of the courthouse, over to a prison bus, and placed aboard with other criminals.

They stared at her during the long, bumpy ride, made crude comments about how she was naked, what they'd do to her. Carly just stared at the floor. She didn't really want to arrive at jail alongside three dead inmates, strangled with her vines.

In the prison intake, prison officials attempted a cavity search, but Carly's vegetation formed a shield of thorns. Instead, they ran a wand over her which detected no metal. She was hosed down, give prison garb, which her vegetation tore apart in the first five minutes.

Finally, she got an escort to her cell. Inmates clanked their bars and whistled at her. The cell door _thunked_ behind her. A heavily tattooed woman sat there, glaring. Carly flopped into the lower bunk.

"That's my bunk, weed-face."

Carly sighed, ticked off names with her fingers. "Let's see. I've defeated Ginger, Becky, She-Hulk, Quick Silver, and a few others, mostly single-handedly. Walk away."

Roomie leaned close. "Well, in the Big House, everyone starts at the bottom. Or the Hospital."

Carly rolled over to face the wall. "Stuff it."

The roommate shuffled around for a minute. Then, "have it your way, Weeds, but that bunk's mine." She pulled Carly back over and drove a shiv straight into her chest.

"Ow! Dammit!"

Carly sat up, yanked the crudely sharpened toothbrush out. "Ow!" She tossed the shiv on the floor. Sticky sap leaked from her chest, maybe a hint of blood in there. "Dammit, leave me alone or I will turn your innards into paste that flows out your ass uncontrollably." Carly flopped back down. Damn people. They had no idea what it meant to be a goddess, to hold the power of life and death in your hands. A power Carly would gladly give up, but if she reacted to every slight, the whole prison would be full of bodies in a matter of minutes.

She heard the woman pick up the weapon and stash it, then ascend the ladder to the next bunk.

Carly blew out a long puff of air. "Phase I complete. Now things might get interesting."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The next morning, Carly expected one of two things. Either Roomie would gather her gang together and jump Carly, or Carly would be untouchable. What do they say? Beat the crap out of someone on your first day in jail, and they'll respect you? Well, Carly couldn't afford any Solitary, so she'd keep her wits about her. But she managed to make it through mealtime, sitting alone, and then rec time. She bounced a basketball against a wall, surveying the yard, glad to have even a few moments outside, although it seemed like every inmate smoked.

Well, it was better than living in a bunker. But all the women here were scary, either criminal types or drug addicts. All abusers or the abused. Perhaps a couple potential henchmen among them, but the really good henchmen types were never sent to jail. But, her plan might need a couple. She looked to the small, wiry girls, tough faces and strong bodies. A few had swastikas or hydra tattoos. One had a Trump logo. No to all of those. She didn't need zealots, skinheads, or any of the weak-minded. And a Hydra tattoo? Please, no wannabes.

One girl sat apart from the others. No obvious ink. Hair cut short. Carly thought about the best approach, but these inmates were sure to be a suspicious lot, and doubtful to trust a newbie, no matter what her reputation. So Carly bounced her ball across the court, thinking about rolling the ball toward the girl. Halfway across, a group of women surrounded her, led by Roomie. Of course.

Carly smiled at them. "I was wondering when the Welcoming Committee was going to show up. How much pain would you like to be in?"

Roomie gave the signal, and they jumped Carly. Well, they tried, bless their hearts. But Carly hadn't spent years in Hydra, training, to let herself be jumped that easily. She flipped and spun away from them, her leaves rustling. She used her tendrils to trip them, to throw them off balance.

One nasty-looking woman tried to grab her vines but came away with a bloody hand. "Thorns are a bitch," said Carly. They rushed her at once, but Carly simply flipped herself over them.

Whistles sounded across the yard. The women immediately stopped and dropped to the ground, hands over their heads. Carly, of course, did the same.

Guards screamed at them. One got in Carly's ear. "Who attacked you? Who started this?"

"No one. We were just playing basketball," she yelled back, cringing in expectation that she'd get clubbed.

Guards dragged one of the women off, not liking her answer apparently, but the rest were released. Roomie brushed herself off, gave Carly some death gesture, and walked away. Carly got up and looked around for the ball. The girl she thought about talking to had it, one foot on top of the ball.

Carly held out her hands, asking for the ball. The girl picked it up, and passed it to Carly so hard, she almost dropped it. "This is my court," said the girl. "You want to stand on it, you gotta play me."

Carly bounced the ball. "I haven't played since high school."

"Got other plans?"

Carly passed the ball to the girl, looked to the hoop. "Not for twenty years."

The girl walked to the top of the key. "Ready?" She bounced the ball to Carly, Carly bounced it back, and the girl simply blew past her to the rim.

Carly shook her head. Girl was fast.

They went again. Girl juked right and slip past Carly's left, leaving Carly stumbling. A small crowd had gathered, including the gang that had tried to jump Carly.

"What's the matter?" said the girl. "Foliage in your eyes?"

Vines were definitely slowing her down. She got them to wrap her legs and arms and stop flopping around. Maybe too much when the crowd started whistling, so she grew it back a touch.

"Dude, you are weirding me out," said the girl.

This time Carly was ready. The girl tried a couple moves, but Carly was up to it, blocked the moves, so the girl simply sunk a jump shot.

"Are you even trying?" she asked.

Again, but this time Carly was able to get a finger on the jump shot. She caught the ball as it came down, spin to the hoop and get in an easy layup.

The crowd razzed the girl. Apparently, she usually schooled the newbies.

Now Carly had the ball. She tried a move, but the girl picked her pocket and made an easy score. Carly never took another shot.

The girl held out a hand once they finished. "You might have potential," she said. "Kelsie."

"Carly. Hoops might not be my thing, but I'm good in fights." They shook hands.

"Well, surviving the joint ain't just about fighting."

Carly nodded to the nearby bench. "Got any words for the new kid?"

"Sure." They sat while some other girls took the ball. "Don't get shivved."

"Too late." Carly showed Kelsie her healing chest wound. "Roomie didn't want the top bunk for some reason.

"So that's what that was about. What are you, some indestructible killing machine?"

Carly nodded. "Killed someone who didn't deserve it, so here I am."

"They all deserve it."

"He was my boyfriend."

"Ever more so."

Carly smiled at the girl. "And you?"

"They say I killed my cheating-ass girlfriend. Total accident though, but here I am."

"Why don't they understand that accidents happen? Knives slip, guns fire, fires start, pills pop, but who's really to blame here?"

"Not me," said Kelsie. "Don't be a cheating bitch and everything will be fine."

"Why do they always think they can just do it and walk away?"

Kelsie smiled. "So what are you, really? What's with all the leaves?"

"You know, the usual super-villain stuff. Experiment gone horribly wrong, now I turn to a life of crime. And you? Where did you get those mad hoops skills?"

Kelsie looked down. "I was a top recruit across the country. Had my pick of schools. Connecticut, Stanford, you know. But life has a way of showing you that you ain't all that."

The guards whistled again, but it was just the end of Yyard.

"Rematch tomorrow?" Carly asked.

"Sure, but you're going to have to show me something more than that if you want to step on my court."

Walking back to the cell block, Carly felt bad about Kelsie. Promising student-athlete, caught up in some love gone wrong. Probably came down to some split-second loss of control that put her on the wrong side of the law. Or maybe she hacked a girl to pieces after torturing her to death. Either/or, it seemed harsh. And if she spent her good years in this dump, what would be left for her?

Roomie didn't pester Carly after the incident but wasn't friendly either. Carly found out that basically that Roomie's gang was the toughest in prison, but had no stomach to face a super-villain again.

The days passed in dull monotony. Still better than sitting alone in a bunker getting drunk, and at least Carly could have friends here. They were a vicious, funny lot, and didn't seem to mind that Carly was a green-leafed freak, now that she'd proved herself. She could make them garlands or bracelets from her vines, until the guards made a search and confiscated all of them just out of spite.

Then came the day Carly had been waiting for. A new batch of prisoners arrived. Among them, Greta Gunderson, a huge girl of pure muscle, almost putting She-Hulk to shame. The first thing she did in the yard was to punch a hole in the basketball.

"Hey!" said Carly.

Greta turned to her. "You want some, Green Bean?" She waved the deflated ball.

Carly looked around. She had a reputation now. But aside from aggressive shoving on the court, she'd kept herself clean and away from any punishments. She left Roomie's gang alone, they left her alone.

"Why don't you take her on?" said Kelsie.

Carly eyed the monster. "Nah, I'm good." Attacking Greta was not her plan.

"Are you shitting me? I thought you were tough." Kelsie shoved her in the back.

"Hey!" Carly stepped to the monster. "What do you want?"

Greta pointed at Carly, then punched the basketball again.

Dammit. Greta understood. Take on the biggest stud on your first day. Duh.

"Do we really need to do this?" Carly could fiddle with the monster's body, lower her blood pressure, enough to give her pause.

Greta walked up and grabbed Carly by the throat, lifted her off her feet. "We need to chat, Green Bean."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Carly tried to head-butt the woman, but it was like hitting a brick wall. "Ow!"

Greta snickered. "So, you're the best of Hydra?"

Carly couldn't fight her, not without getting herself locked away for who knows how long. The guards simply looked on, waiting to see who would be the eventual winner before they cracked heads. This was their entertainment. Carly had witnessed dozens of fights so far, and the guards were generally amused until it looked like someone might get permanently hurt.

Carly's opponent had tapped some super-power, that was obvious. The huge hand squeezed Carly around the neck, choking. Carly's vines rustled, ready to strike back. Greta shook, cried out. Something had hit her from behind. Kelsie stood there. A metal chair lay bent on the ground.

Greta turned, fuming, snatched Kelsie by the neck. Kelsie wasn't like Carly. Greta could snap the girl's neck in a second. Carly had to fight, but she couldn't use powers to modify others, make their eyes boil or anything. It was part of her plea deal. She agreed to never again use her super-powers, or all the charges they suspended would be back on the table.

So she made her neck greasy and was able to slip out of Greta's grasp. Hitting the ground, she swung a kick to the back of Greta's knee, then launched a blow right to the kidneys.

Greta dropped Kelsie and swung a blow right at Carly's head that would have taken it clean off, but Carly ducked. She jumped onto Greta's head and raked her face with thorns worthy of barbed wire. Greta screamed.

Carly got an arm around the monster girl's throat and locked it in. "Listen to me," she spoke into the girl's ear. "We got an offer for you. Play ball with us, you'll see freedom in a month."

The guards were now whistling and running toward them. Greta didn't seem to care about the offer. She reached back and yanked Carly's vines, despite all the spikes. It hurt like hell getting them ripped out, but it did nothing to dislodge Carly.

What worked were the truncheons that slammed her back and head, followed by the Taser bolt of electricity.

Carly fought to suppress her powers from turning the Yard into a jungle of wild weeds as she was beaten. Greta fought them off pretty well, the Taser barely affecting her. Carly knocked off the guard, jumped on Greta again. If she was going to get punishment, better leave the opponent worse off. She wrapped vines around Greta's throat, bound her wrists and ankles together, and Greta went down.

A second later, so did Carly, under a pile of guards.

The warden glared at Carly in her office. "I knew there would eventually be trouble," she said. "And you didn't disappoint."

"Bitches need to know their place," said Carly, not even trying to defend herself. "I was showing Greta hers."

"I see." Warden looked down her long nose at Carly. "And I'm here to show you yours. This is my prison. No Yard privileges for a week. And if I see you in one more fight, I will be forced to take punitive measures."

Carly nodded. "I understand."

"Stay away from Gunderson. Let us deal with her."

"If she fronts me again, I'll slap her down," said Carly. "Bitch better heave off." She hoped that sounded like tough prison talk.

"You touch her again, it's Supervillain Max for you."

"Whatever." Bad enough being in a house full of backstabbers. Imagine being confined in a jail full of criminals who could freeze you solid or enter your mind.

Warden waved to the door. "I do not wish to see you in this office again."

Carly mock saluted and left.

The next day, Greta was nowhere to be seen. "Dammit," grumbled Carly. But when Kelsie saw her in the mess hall, she had a grin.

"Damn, girl. I thought that bitch was going to tear you apart."

Kelsie pushed Carly around the corner, out of sight of the rest of the inmates, shoved her up against a wall, and kissed her. Hard.

Carly had no idea what brought this on. But she gently disengaged from Kelsie.

"What?" demanded Kelsie.

"I'm—I'm not. This"

Kelsie's face turned dark. "If not me, then who?"

"There's no one. I swear." Just a boy in the South American jungle with a promise.

Kelsie grasped Carly's leaves—down to her breasts. "Then why not me?"

Carly closed her eyes. She needed friends—just not with benefits. She grabbed Kelsie's wrists. "I love hanging out with you, working on my game, talking. You're the first friend I've made in years. But I just can't be more than that."

Kelsie threw Carly's hands off. She turned aside, fighting tears. Carly held out a hand to Kelsie's shoulder.

"Don't," she said. "See you around, Weeds."

Kelsie stormed off. Carly leaned against the wall, trying to breathe. Roomie stepped in.

"Well," she said. "You're able to throw your weight around, Weeds. But let's see how you fare with your heart. Prison's a cold bitch. There are worse things than being shivved. Much worse. Ta ta!"

Carly glared at Roomie's back as she walked away. Looked like everyone couldn't wait for Carly to fail, whether from being beat or being hurt.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Out on the Yard, Kelsie played furiously, but wouldn't even let Carly on the court, so Carly wandered off to jeers. Didn't take much for the inmates to figure out something had gone down between the two.

Kelsie kept the ice up for a week. Finally, Greta returned to the Yard, her prison oranges ready to burst at the seams from her muscles. Greta and Carly had a long stare-off, the guards ready to intervene, but Greta simply hit the weights, maxing out on every bar.

"It's now or never," breathed Carly. She waited until Greta was on the bench press, and stepped in for Greta's muscle-girl spotter in the middle of a set.

Greta pushed up a good 500 pounds, then again, eyeing Carly the whole time. The last rep was a struggle, but Carly didn't help the woman who managed to get the weight back on the rack. "Now you," she said.

Carly shook her head. "I'm not here to work out."

"Lay yourself down or you'll find your girl with a cracked skull some night." Greta nodded to the basketball court.

Carly went ahead and lay down on the bench. "I can't do 500."

"Aw, too bad. Let's me lighten little girl's load." Greta slipped discs off the barbell like they were Frisbees. Soon only one disc remained on each end. "Little girl can do 90?"

Carly put her hands on the bar. She lifted the weight off. She dropped it down to her chest and blew out air as she lifted it back.

"Good," said Greta. "More."

Carly did three more, her arms starting to ache. On the fourth, Greta leaned over and held the bar down against Carly's chest.

"You listen good," she said. "I ain't no one's bitch, not S.H.I.E.L.D., not Hydra."

The bar pressed down. Carly couldn't breathe. She struggled to raise the bar, but Greta put all her prodigious weight on it. Carly focused, calling on the power of plants to bore through rocks, lending strength to her arms. The bar slowly lifted, allowing her to draw a breath.

"No one's asking you to be," said Carly. "We just want to make an offer for your services. I think you'll find it competitive."

Greta redoubled her efforts to drive the bar down, but Carly held it, arms shaking.

"What the hell are you made of?" grunted Greta.

Carla forced the bar back up and onto the stand, then quickly sat up in case Greta had some ideas to knock the bar back on her head.

"Impressive," said Greta. "If Hydra's so strong, why is one of their greatest assets wasting away in jail?"

"We have our reasons. If you're so strong, how did allow yourself to get caught?"

Greta ground her jaw for a second. She picked up some barbells and worked on her curls. Carly realized that Greta could probably smash her head in with one of those. But for the moment, Greta seemed ready to talk.

"Sometimes you trust the wrong people. Trick is to trust no one, I guess. Like you and the tart. She trusted you. Look how well that worked out."

Damn, Greta was perceptive. Strong and smart. "Don't worry about me and Kelsie. Worry about me. This is a limited time offer."

Greta kicked some hand weights over to Carly. "Don't waste the air with your talk if you can use it for your body. Push them to the sky."

Carly picked up the weights. She pressed them overhead.

"Back straight. And slow down. What the hell they teaching in Hydra?"

Greta pushed Carly through a brutal workout. Although she was half vegetable, the human muscle parts of her didn't appreciate the strain. The vegetable part only cared that she was in the sun. Workout complete, Greta clapped her on the back. "You're okay, Green Bean. I'll listen to your deal."

"Good. Showers, tomorrow."

As they left the Yard, Kelsie shot her daggers of hate. Carly needed Kelsie on her side, but there some things she wouldn't do. She knew prison was a damn lonely place. And for Kelsie, it could be doubly hard, a minefield of potential relationships. But she had to get this fixed and soon. Time was running out.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The next morning, Carly met Greta in the showers. The monster girl practically filled the stall. Carly didn't have to do much more than water herself, soap was a thing of the past. Her vegetation soaked up her sweat and recycled it. She smelled naturally herbal, woodsy.

"Okay, Boss," said Greta. "What's the offer?"

"We get you out of here, free and clear. Then you're ours for a year. We have a special project for you, requires someone with your unique skills."

"What kind of project?"

"You'll be part of a strike team. Your missions will vary. At the end, you'll be generously rewarded."

"Just a contract, though. No long-term commitment?"

"Exactly."

Greta smiled. "And how do you propose to extract me without creating an international manhunt?"

Carly returned the smile. "Well, that's easy. I'm going to kill you."

Greta dropped her soap. No one bent to pick it up.

"Say what now?"

"You'll only be mostly dead. Then when you're out of prison, we'll revive you. The world will think you're dead and gone. Then you'll be ours."

Greta eyed Carly. "And you've done this before."

Carly's face grew warm. "Well, not on purpose. But I've brought life back from the dead before."

"And I won't come back as a vegetable?"

"You want this deal or not? Limited time offer."

Greta squatted to grab her soap, watching Carly the whole time. "So. Any chance you were sent here for little ole' me? Man, Hydra's grown desperate. Not sure I like these terms. I'm thinking more like a six-month commitment, same payout."

"You're not in a position to negotiate. Ten life sentences? The only other way out of this place is in a body bag."

"And with your powers, you could walk out any time. And yet you're here."

"You know I can just kill you where you stand."

Greta stepped so close her breasts were practically in Carly's face, dripping on Carly's leaves. "Why don't you just go ahead? Here I am."

Carly kept her hands at her side, although she was sorely tempted to give Greta just a taste of her power. Make one boob grow freakishly large.

"Okay," said Carly. "I'm in here for you. I admit it. We do want you. You want out. It's a full year commitment. And to sweeten the pot, we'll get you your girl, too." Greta had one weakness: a child, now a ward of the state. Hydra could easily snatch her, send her to a special school just like Carly had been in.

Greta's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about her?"

"We're Hydra. So, are we on?"

Greta nodded.

"Good. Now. We'll do it during chow. Tons of witnesses."

"Will it hurt?"

"It will feel like you're dying." Carly eyed the giant woman.

Greta put a giant paw around Carly's neck and lifted her against the concrete wall. "Anything goes wrong, I have people who will come for you. Even in here."

She dropped Carly, who landed down on the shower floor in a heap, water gushing in her face. By the time she regained her feet, Greta was gone, but Kelsie was there, wrapped in a towel, a sour look on her face.

"You—and her?"

"Kelsie, nothing—"

Kelsie flipped her the finger and then left.

How the hell this turn so fast? Kelsie was seriously unstable. Everyone in here was. Maybe she shouldn't be so fast to want to leave. What better place was there for a leafy freak with superpowers? A place where she couldn't do much harm.

On the way out to the Yard, a guard stopped her. Her heart raced.

"Visitor," he said.

"What?" No one was due. Or were they? Hard to keep track of time in the joint. Not like they had an activity calendar or anything.

The guard led her to the visitor's room, directed her to a seat. "No touching." They had a few tables set up. A couple other inmates chatted with visitors. She sat at her designated table, and they cuffed her to it.

Who walked in but José, straight from his Central American stint. The man Carly had tried to seduce until her own foliage rebelled and locked him away from anything interesting.

Turned out the foliage had good instincts— José was no rebel, he was a Hydra agent trying to infiltrate the Hulk's jungle clinic. And while she was Hydra, that didn't make her a plaything. Although she really, really wanted him. But in hindsight, she was glad she hadn't slept with him.

"Hey Sweetie," he said. "If you want, I can make this a conjugal visit."

Carly laughed. "Maybe next time. What do you want, José?"

"Just want to know how you're doing."

Ah. Code. Mission status. "It sucks ass here. But I made a friend. She's interested in hanging out."

She hoped he understood.

"Yeah? Like when?"

"Maybe tomorrow?"

"That should be fun."

"She likes playing possum. But I can catch her."

"Good," he said. Mission was a go. "So how are you doing in here, really?"

Carly sighed. "I liked the jungle a lot better. Felt like home. How's your big friend?"

"Haven't seen him. But, his little friend has been looking at your samples."

Carly perked up. "Yeah? Anything yet?"

"Let's see how your playdate goes."

Carly formed fists then relaxed them. "Fine. I thought you were my friend."

"Chica, come on."

"I'm the one in the goddamn jail."

José nodded and took a breath. "Fine. He's seen some interesting reactions in your samples. But he hasn't isolated them. But it's progress. Dr. Banner is a busy man."

Carly wished she could touch him. "Thank you. This means a lot to me, José."

"De nada, Chica." _It's nothing._

It was everything. If Dr. Banner couldn't cure her, no one could.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The next day, Carly sat at lunch, trying to decide what exactly the watery mass of food on her plate was when Greta entered. Carly realized she had exactly the same number of friends here as anywhere else she'd been: zero. And she'd thought she had found someone. Maybe she could talk to Kelsie, get her to calm down. But for Kelsie, sex politics might be a part of her life. Carly didn't know how to play that game. Her attempt at sex was a disaster with José, and now Kelsie hated her.

Carly sighed. It was show time. Greta laughed at something at her table. The time was right. Carly sent a tiny wave out, just enough to block Greta's throat. Greta coughed, clutched her neck, choked.

The other inmates laughed until they realized it was serious, then called for the guards.

It was terrible to watch, but Carly forced herself. They needed a giant, and Greta was the only one available. Greta writhed on the ground, her face turning blue. Guards tried to perform the Heimlich Maneuver but Greta was too big and thrashing too hard. Carly couldn't watch.

Greta lay still, eyes staring up. Carly sent some power her way, just enough to keep her alive, but just barely.

The guards quickly canceled lunch, Yard, and all the activities for the day. Carly returned to her cell, where Roomie sat up on her bunk, legs hanging off. Carly glanced up at Roomie, who still hadn't said one word more than necessary the entire time.

"I need your help," said Carly.

"Go F yourself."

"I need you to hurt me. Just enough to go to the infirmary."

Roomie smiled. "You trying to get out of facing someone bigger? Can't hide from your problems, Weeds. Not in here."

"Will you do it?"

"What's in it for me? Aside from kicking your vegetable ass?"

Carly motioned to the lower bunk.

Roomie nodded. "For starters. But one word of it to anyone, I will find a way to boil your hide."

Roomie was true to her word. During chow time, she arranged for Carly to be in the kitchen, helping. Until a big pot of boiling water fell on her.

Carly thought she had known pain before, but having her vines and shoots poached was another level of torture. She screamed in agony as her tendrils writhed in pain. It was all she could do to not suck the life out of everyone nearby.

They threw her on a gurney and carted her through the complex, through a series of locking gates, until she was in the infirmary proper. Doctors looked at her, but her foliage was already returning. Wardens questioned her, but she insisted it was an accident.

"Can I just rest here a bit?" she asked. "I'm feeling very unsteady."

They left her alone. She squeezed out her restraints, snuck out of her room, slipped down the hall, found the door to the morgue. There was only one body in there. All she had to do was revive Greta, but leave her in the body bag. She unzipped the bag and stopped.

Right through the heart was buried a scalpel, alongside a bunch of other puncture wounds. Carly gasped.

"No, no, no!" She yanked the thing out, tossed it down. She put her hand over the heart. She could make it grow, but how to make it heal? A hole in the heart wasn't something that was easily fixed on a living person. She was used to making hearts burst. "No!"

Greta was gone. Carly couldn't easily raise the dead. Someone had gotten wind of her plan and ruined it. Her whole reason for being here was gone. "NO!" She smashed her fists on the corpse.

The lights flipped on. Guards flooded the room, screamed at her to get down. Carly could destroy them all, but she let them take her down, throw in a few shots with their clubs until she lay there bleeding green blood.

Now she had good reason to be in the infirmary, but she was locked down tight, watched 24x7. As soon as she was patched up, which didn't take long, they threw her into solitary.

Carly was right back where she started, except no Netflix. Lonely, alone, not sure if anyone cared whether she lived or died, and unable to use her power without probably killing hundreds. Her mission was a dismal failure, and they'd probably tie Greta's death to her, and tack on another hundred years to her sentence. She could break out, but people would die.

So she passed the time doing the only thing she could—by forming plants. Flowers. Gardens. All extensions of her body. She could become a hedge. A lawn. A rose bush. An oak. She could easily knock down a wall, shatter the floor, raise the ceiling, but any use of her power and they'd flush her into some cave so deep she'd never see light again and have nothing to use her power against. She could move a concrete block, but not a whole mountain.

Days passed, no contact. No lawyer. No prison aide. Just silence. She talked to her plants. They answered. She didn't want to think about how much she was losing it. She could be in here for years. But at some point, she would break. The prison would be crushed by plant life. Some would escape, many would die. So she held on to whatever scrap of hope she could.

One day (or night—who could tell) they guard ordered her up. She placed her hands though the door and was cuffed. The guard ordered her back, sit down. The door opened, and in strode Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk, but in her city lawyer form.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"You can't be in here without my lawyer," said Carly.

"This is off-the-record," said Jennifer. "You and me. Green monster to green monster."

"At least you can turn it off."

"For now. Bruce thinks that at some point, I won't."

"So, you keep your real self bottled up."

"Is this _your_ real self?"

Carly looked down. Until she said it, she never thought that this was who she was, not some disease to be cured. But when she looked at Jennifer, all she could picture was the monster curled up inside, ready to spring out. Was that what Carly was doing? Trying to deny that this plant thing was now her true identity? That she was Wild Flower, and Carly Richards was dead?

"I guess, yeah. Look. I've got nothing to say to you."

"You're facing a serious charge. Capital Murder. You're not just looking at additional jail time. We're talking the chair. We know you hurt that woman. Autopsy reveals a growth similar to what your power produces. You choked that woman to death. You're not walking away from this."

Carly slumped. If they threw her on Death Row, they knew they'd have to seriously restrain her. She'd have nothing to lose by escaping.

"I didn't kill her. She was already dead when I went in there."

"Yes, after you strangled her. You were in the same room."

Carly could strangle Jessica right now. "I didn't put the knife in her."

"Do you think that matters?"

Carly swallowed the lump in her throat. "I never wanted to hurt her," she mumbled. "Just put her to sleep. Someone else got to her. Check your tapes. Someone else was in the morgue."

"I did. There was no one else."

Carly formed fists. Someone was trying to get her out of the picture. Maybe the whole thing with Greta had been a ruse from the start. Get Carly in jail, keep her there. Get her out of the picture. Greta too. Why?

"This is really your last chance, Carly. Give me something or I walk out that door, and so help me god, you will see the gallows if I have to rip the head off your neck myself."

"You know what? Do your worst. Prosecute me. Electrocute me. But for the love of fuck stop talking to me. All you S.H.I.E.L.D. people are the same. You know what? I'm a good goddamn person. I try to help people. I could destroy everyone in this prison but I don't. I could tear you up where you stand but I don't. Why? Because I care."

"Can you even hear yourself? Carly, you're as evil as they come. You're just smarter than most, I'll give you credit for that. You keep fighting the same fight and losing. Do you enjoy losing so much? Are you willing to go to the grave to hang on to whatever it is you've got clutched so tight? You've got one foot in the grave already. When are you going to take a stand? When are you going to fight for yourself?"

Carly tried to meet the woman's gaze but couldn't. "You want to see me fight? Here. I'll fight."

Carly shot tendrils all around the room. They bored through the concrete, cracking it and tearing it apart. Her whole body grew, bigger and bigger, until her back was against the ceiling. She pushed through it, crumbling the cell. With a growing hand, she grabbed Jennifer who screamed, turned green, but couldn't escape Carly's grip. Carly laughed as she continued to grow, bursting through another level, collapsing the prison around her until she was free. She crawled out onto the roof where they turned their guns on her, but she was too big now, nothing could hurt her. She stomped her way through the prison's outer walls, letting the cheering prisoners free.

"Carly," said She-Hulk, snapping her fingers. "Carly!"

Carly returned to her cell, her escape just a brutal fantasy. She could probably do it, but not without leaving a trail of carnage.

"Do you know that I sometimes wake up from a bad dream, worried that I'd used my power in my sleep? Half the time I expect to awaken in a forest, everything around me turned into plants."

"Believe me, I understand," said Jennifer. "The whole superpower thing is terrifying. Who am I? Lawyer or monster? What should I be doing with my life? Prosecuting or fighting? It's all maddening."

Carly refused to cry or show this woman any weakness, although all she wanted to do was to crawl into the corner and weep, wrapped in her vines.

"Carly," said the woman, softer. "There's another path out there for you. You're going to have to make a choice about what kind of woman you're going to be."

"If I even think about getting out, they will burn me. They will never stop hunting me, never stop finding a way to hurt me. I know this because I've had a few of those assignments, bringing traitors to justice. And anyways, I'd never betray them."

"After everything they've done to you? Turned you into…this? Controlled your life? Put you in here?"

"Do you hate your cousin because of what he did to you?"

At last, Jennifer was the one to break her gaze. "I did. For a long time. I didn't want to live like this. I had a career. I was engaged. It took a long time, but I finally got that back. So can you. Your life isn't over, it's barely begun. You can do things with these powers. You can change the world. You can be a hero."

"A ninja turtle is a hero. I'm a monster. I'm what parents tell their kids about to get them to behave." Carly's leaves curled around her.

"Then give them a different story to tell. About the girl who saved the world."

Carly clenched her jaw. Jennifer certainly was slick. She knew all the angles, threw all the right daggers.

Jennifer stepped closer. "A hero is someone who does the right thing, no matter what the cost. Even at the expense of her own life. Now what are you going to do, Carly? Spend your life staring at these walls, waiting for the hangman, or be something greater?"

Carly eyed the tendrils that garnished her arm. "Would you ask a black man to stop being black? Would you ask a gay man to stop being gay? Then you need to stop asking me to not be Hydra because that's what I am."

That was right. She _was_ Hydra. She was their greatest achievement.

Wait—She was their greatest _weapon_. Why hadn't she thought of this before now? When she destroyed the Virginia countryside, that's when they knew, when she defeated Ginger. That's why she'd been locked away, given nothing assignments, hidden. They were afraid of her, of what she'd do once she decided to use her powers. Greta was just another test. Escaping this prison, another test. Another chance to see her fail.

This time it was going to be different. This time, she was going to be in charge of her life. She was going to start making her own choices.

Carly played with the vines that hung off her shoulders like a vest. "There's a meeting later this year. All of Hydra. Massive planning session, you know the kind. The only way you'll find out any details is if I'm out of this prison and free of charges. I want my life back."

"You killed a woman. I can't turn my back on that."

"I was going to revive her. I swear. But I didn't put that knife in here. Greta was going to live. We had it all worked out."

"What you are going to tell me is why you wanted her out. I want to know who's behind all this."

Carly swallowed. Jennifer was playing her. "It's my father. He needed a giant. Someone like you. For what, I don't know. But my guess is that we'll find out during the conference."

"What if you had another giant?"

Carly eyed Jennifer. "You can't be serious. They'd never believe you turned."

"If I break you out of here they might."

Carly shook her head and grinned. "Your cousin will be pissed. I wouldn't want to face him."

"I can take care of Bruce. And the other guy. So, we have a deal then? You get out of here, you bring me in to your scheme?"

"You're just going to walk into the teeth of the enemy."

"It's what heroes do, Carly."


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Three weeks later, Carly was released from solitary. The prison officials determined that Greta was dead long before Carly entered the room, and considered the knife a cheap insult to a dead body. It only took her an hour of freedom to corner Kelsie, who ran at the sight of Carly, a guilty plea if there ever was one. Carly caught her, smothered her with vegetation.

"Listen up, bitch. I know what you did. You cost Hydra dearly. So now, you owe us. You will be leaving here soon. In a body bag. And when you're revived, you'll tell them that I've been compromised. I'll be bringing someone in, someone huge. Tell them to prepare."

Jennifer had made a compelling case. And Carly was tempted. But what Jennifer didn't understand, couldn't understand, was that Carly was Hydra through and through. She would never be the Hero.

That's why she let Kelsie spend a few days in terror, expecting to die at any second. People had to know there was a price for crossing Hydra.

And Carly wasn't going to be the one to pay it.

 **The End**

* * *

 _Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of Wild Flower, sometime before the end of 2018 (I hope)._

 _Carly holds the future of both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. in her hands. Can she make the ultimate sacrifice and preserve the future of mankind, or will she succumb to her fears and bring on a new era of misery to the world?_


End file.
